Omega Shift
by Po Xiao
Summary: After EP2, Shion wants a change. She also wants some answers.. non cryptic, please. To get them, she'll go through hell and high water. But what happens when the answers aren't what she expects? She'll need some help from a certain mystery boy.
1. Prologue: Blessed, Beloved

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the concepts of the Xenosaga games. I'm just playing with them, and then I'll put them back in their boxes, Mommy, I promise. I'm making no profit out of this story, and if you sue me, you'll only get a few lint balls. I wouldn't bother with it, really.

I do own this story, and plagurizing it would make you a sad, sad, creepy little person. It'd also make me angry, and I bite. So save yourself some rabies shots and don't even try to nick it, okay?

Currently unbeta-ed. If you'd like to volunteer for the position I'd love you forever.

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Shion Uzuki was lost.

Panting, sobbing, she ran through the streets of Miltia. Everywhere, there was slaughter. Flashes of blood and watery, thin forms through the stampede of the crowd were all she could see. "Please," she latched on to the sleeve of the nearest person, "help Feb!" No one even looked at her. No matter how she yelled, or how desperately she grasped onto anything in her reach, no one listened. Shion turned to go back to the place she had last seen her caretaker, but she was pulled away by the tide of the crowd, feet sliding awkwardly on a mixture of blood, rubble, and salt. "No!" she screamed, flailing frantically to try and break free. "Jin! Feb! **_Feb_**! I have to help them! Stop it! I have to go back!"

Arms caught her around her middle, lifting her up securely, carrying her further and further away, "**_Stop_**!"

Shion stumbled free of the suddenly lax hold, her crying quieting in the frozen grey wasteland of her early memory. "I hate this..." she whispered brokenly as she knelt in the wreckage of her old home, "this stupid dream."

"This was the beginning, Shion... this was the first wave."

"Nephilim," Shion sighed, feeling guilty over her sudden wish that the luminous, mysterious girl had never appeared to her. She closed her eyes wordlessly.

"Shion," Nephilim's voice was sad and tender. She placed pale, shining fingers against Shion's hair lightly, as if in benediction. "The path is difficult, I know. You have suffered so much... But the wave... The wave is building again. It will engulf you all, and spiral out of control if you let it."

Shion's eyes had opened, startled at the touch, and watched the melancholy spectre. "Nephilim... what are you?"

Nephilim's lips curved in the barest of smiles. "I am of the wave. A part, and yet apart."

The brunette frowned. "What? Can't you just tell me?" she burst out, frustrated. "I'm so tired of all of this." She pushed away from the girl angrily. "I never asked for this! Haven't I done enough? Haven't I hurt enough?" Shion clutched her arms against herself protectively.

Nephilim left her hand extended, ageless eyes fixed on Shion's face. "You do not bear this cross alone, Shion.. the answers are waiting for you. All you need are the questions."

Tears tracked slowly down Shion's cheeks. "Why me? Out of everyone else... why me?"

"You are blessed among women," the shining apparition whispered comfortingly, brushing away the tears soothingly. "And very much beloved."

Shion blinked, startled. "What?"

Nephilim gave her that same enigmatic smile she had before. "Rest now... the time of peace is short, and you all need it so.."

"But--!"

Shion shot up in her bed. For a moment, she stared around, confused. As the sounds of the Second Miltian night permeated her senses, Shion sighed. "Tommorrow, I'm looking through Jin's damn books and finding a dream guide." She rolled over on her side, snuggling back into the comfort of her futon. "Stupid cryptic portents," she muttered sleepily.


	2. A Force Beyond Nature

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the concepts of the Xenosaga games. I'm just playing with them, and then I'll put them back in their boxes, Mommy, I promise. I'm making no profit out of this story, and if you sue me, you'll only get a few lint balls. I wouldn't bother with it, really.

I do own this story, and plagurizing it would make you a sad, sad, creepy little person. It'd also make me angry, and I bite. So save yourself some rabies shots and don't even try to nick it, okay?

Currently unbeta-ed. If you'd like to volunteer for the position I'd love you forever.

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Chapter One

"You," Shion accused a sheepish Jun, "are utterly hopeless." She pushed her sweaty bangs off her forehead and then grimaced at the dust she'd just smeared across her face. "Ugh. No wonder they call them dust bunnies. I swear they're _breeding_." Shion flapped her hands wildly, vainly trying to chase the dust motes away from her. Jun edged off while the brunette was distracted, wary of the infamous Uzuki temper. Shion let him go. He wasn't really helping her search anyway. She did wonder, however, how on earth he managed to mangle Jin's shelving system so spectacularly. A droll grin appeared on her face as she contemplated taking a picture and calling it art. With a sigh, she resigned herself to the dust, merely brushing off the top book in one of the many stacks surrounding her before plunking the volume in her lap. As much as she hated admitting it, she could see why Jin had started this store. It was... oddly peaceful, sitting on the tatami and watching the dust dance in the sunbeams as you relived the past trapped in musty pages. There were no deadlines, no stacks of paperwork, no nanomachines to go haywire and form themselves into gremlins. Still, a steady diet of loafing like this would soon drive Shion insane.

She tapped her fingers impatiently against the pages of the book on her lap. The Immigrant Fleet's religion was stunningly hard to find. Lost Jerusalem seemed to have a wealth of them, some interconnected, and others simply bizarre in the sheer difference between its origin and evolution. Shion shook her head. "Worshipping planets, worshipping _rocks_... No wonder the Immigrant Fleet is so weird. Understanding this gobbledygook must take being half insane to begin with."

The search that had begun with looking for a book detailing the meaning of dreams had spiraled outward in typical Shion fashion to include anything that Nephilim had alluded to, anything that related to the series of events that had so diverted her life from it's set path... which meant, of course, that Shion was nearly buried in UMN printouts and musty pages. "I could really use KOS-MOS or MOMO right now," the former Vector Chief sighed, stirring up dust and setting papers fluttering with her breath. Her nose wrinkled as the dust made her sneeze repeatedly. "Bah! Even Miyuki would be helpful." Sometimes she really regretted getting herself fired from Vector.

"Your wish is my command, Chief," a bubbly voice came from the other side of the stacks, causing Shion to startle violently. Miyuki popped out from behind a massive pile of books, her characteristic cheerfulness unchanged if the beaming smile was anything to judge by. "Itsumi Miyuki, at your service!"

Shion blinked at her former subordinate breathlessly. "Miyuki... what are you doing here?"

Miyuki plopped down, settling herself comfortably, despite the cramped space and the rather musty air. "Where else would I be? There's no way I'm staying at Vector if you're gone. Everyone knows they'll probably promote Allen, but Allen's no you, Chief." Miyuki leaned forward, whispering conspiritorily to Shion, "We've got bets running on how long it'll be until he snaps and they come to try and drag you back out of sheer stress." The impish programmer giggled. "So, Chief, when _are_ you coming back?"

Shion blinked again. "...I was _fired_, Miyuki. I'm not _coming_ back. Since I got fired from Vector I'll probably never work in any competitive industry ever again," she added, sighing wistfully. "And I'll definitely never get within spitting distance of KOS-MOS again. They thought I stole her!" Shion huffed indignantly.

"As if you'd need to, with my wonderful invention to help you kick gnosis butt," Miyuki sniffed, dismissing those allegations with an imperious wave of her hand. Shion snorted, smiling at Miyuki affectionately. "Miyuki, you haven't answered my question at all, you know."

"Aww, c'mon, Chief... we're friends. I wanted to make sure you weren't moping." Miyuki looked around, then gave Shion a wry look. "Which you are."

Shion sputtered. "Wha- what? I'm most certainly am not!"

Miyuki folded her arms. "You're sitting inside on a beautiful day, up to your nose in old, smelly books. You," she summed up succintly, "are moping. And kinda dirty," she added. Shion reached up and easily tipped a precariously perched stack of papers onto Miyuki's head. Miyuki laughed, scooting back to try to avoid the deluge.

"Hey! Friend abuse!"

Shion stood, stretching, "Miyuki, really... I'm not moping. I'm just..." The brunette paused, unable to really explain.

"Moping," Miyuki singsonged, grabbing Shion's arm. "I bet you haven't seen the sun in weeks! You've been wasting away with only the dust bunnies for company to watch your slow decline..." The shorter tech gestured melodramatically with her arm. "Well, there's no way I'm letting you stay cooped up in here. While you're waiting for Vector to come to their senses and come crawling to ask you back, we're going to have girl time!"

"Eep," Shion squeaked, drawing back slightly at the somewhat frenetic light in Miyuki's eyes. "Uh... girl time? But, ah, Miyuki, don't you need to go to work--"

"Allen will be too busy panicking to even notice I'm gone," Miyuki said carelessly, beginning to drag Shion toward the door. "You," the girl stopped short, whirling and pointing a finger that nearly stabbed Shion in the nose, "need girl time. And _that_ means...a Miyuki-chan Super Special Fantastic Makeover!"

Miyuki beamed.

Shion paled. "M-makeover..?" A little voice in Shion's brain began screaming '_run, run away fast before she puts you in some weird manga costume and colors your hair electric pink_'. Shion was inclined to believe that the little voice was her common sense, and would've loved to take the advice, but Miyuki was stronger than she looked. Shion had already been dragged outside, and they were swiftly approaching the gate to the small property, where it would take only a few minutes to catch the rail to the main city sectors. All she could do was pray frantically.

"Hey Chief, have you ever heard of Magical Girl Pretty Sammy? Or oooh... You know that new anime they have out, Sweet Love Angel? They have the cutest hairstyles in that, and you know, I bet you could pull off one, you know, the one that the girl with the green hair has..."

Shion whimpered, reaching up the clutch her hair protectively.

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A/N: A special thanks to rdsullivan, my very first reviewer on this story! As a thank you, do you have any requests? Besides chaos, because he will definitely be a major part of this story. I have several theories about our hunky mystery man, and I definitely sense a connection to Shion... This is going to evolve into a Shion/chaos, because really... after seeing that animation for the Dual Spell Ray, how could I not? Heh.

Sweet Love Angel is, of course, some name I randomly pulled out of my head. Any resemblance to the name of a real anime/manga/whatever is purely coincidental.

On a seperate note: This story is rated M for several reasons: there is going to be graphic violence, in the sense that very few of our beloved characters have happy memories, and Shion seems to have gone through a truckload of trauma, there's going to be swearing, because... yeah, some of these situations are gonna make even the most proper little Japanese science geeks pop out a few damns, and well... adult situations. I will reveal no more. Anyone who dislikes any of the afforementioned... well, you have a back button, and the freedom to click, ne?


	3. Skin and Schemes

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the concepts of the Xenosaga games. I'm just playing with them, and then I'll put them back in their boxes, Mommy, I promise. I'm making no profit out of this story, and if you sue me, you'll only get a few lint balls. I wouldn't bother with it, really.

I do own this story, and plagurizing it would make you a sad, sad, creepy little person. It'd also make me angry, and I bite. So save yourself some rabies shots and don't even try to nick it, okay?

Currently unbeta-ed. If you'd like to volunteer for the position I'd love you forever.

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Chapter Two

"No. Way," Shion said firmly, her foot tapping impatiently against the dressing room floor.

"No way, Miyuki, there's _entirely_ too much of me showing. I am not stepping _one foot_ outside this room, so you might as well--"

"I gave your clothes to the donation center across the street," Miyuki interrupted her cheerfully. "So, unless you want to come out here in your underpants, I'd say you're gonna have to go with my judgement and buy that outfit... and maybe this one too. This dress looks pretty smokin' on you, if I do say so myself."

"YOU DID _WHAT_ WITH MY CLOTHES!"

The cry of utter rage had every other patron in the shop turning wide-eyed toward the dressing room area, where an irate Shion Uzuki had just erupted from one of the rooms, expression promise horrible vengence on the one who had wronged her. "THAT WAS MY FAVORITE SWEATER! MIYUKI---!"

Miyuki smiled angelically. "Well, Shion, it'll be put to a worthy cause now. It had to be at least three sizes to big for you and made you look as flat as a twelve year old anyway. And besides, you look _totally_ Lara Croft in that outfit!" The otaku programmer giggled gleefully. "Allen's gonna trip over his own tongue when he sees you!"

Shion scowled, folding her arms, "Who the heck is Lara Croft, and how is that going to save you from me wreaking terrible, terrible revenge on you when you least expect it?" Shion's brain was already scheming a devious scheme. Harold in Second Division owed her, and he'd probably be good for torturing Miyuki within an inch of her life.. Maybe something like the Christmas party where Shion and Miyuki had gotten drunk and Harold had convinced them that doing the Macarena-- an extremely old, extremely corny dance from centuries ealier-- on top of the party table would be a fine idea. Miyuki had sat in the office cake, and Shion had tried to balance the punch bowl on her head, resulting in a one-contestant wet shirt contest. It had taken them a year to hunt down all the photos.

An evil smile bloomed on Shion's face. Drinking and dancing, she thought, watching Miyuki babble. The other girl would never know what hit her.

"So, Shion, are you gonna get the dress too, or --- Uh..." Miyuki trailed off as she got a brief look at Shion's expression. "Meep?"

"I think I will get the dress, Miyuki... And you're right about this outfit. It's just the kind of change I needed," Shion breezed past Miyuki, snagging the dress easily from the startled girl's hands. "I feel _very_, ah.. Lara Croft," she tossed over her shoulder as she went to pay for the clothes.

Miyuki smiled tentatively. She had a very bad feeling coming on...

Shion came back, bearing a bag and a wolfish grin. "I think I need to pay you back for all of this Miyu-chan," she said sweetly, capturing Miyuki's wrist before the girl could flee for her life. "We," Shion said firmly, "are breaking in these new looks with style. We're going to Peony River."

"Peony River?" Miyuki perked up at the name of the trendy new club that she'd been dying to go to. Peony River was the reason she'd been on the apple diet in the first place, and she had to admit, the result was-- "Heeeey," Miyuki looked at Shion askance. "I thought you said you'd rather roll naked down a hill chased by a horde of horny Gnosis than set foot in a club like Peony River."

Shion grinned at the other. "That was when _I_ was gonna be sporting the drink tab at the end of the night," she said cheerfully.

"Anou?" Miyuki blinked. "Ah, I.. Okay, why not! Peony River, here we come!" Miyuki started hauling Shion out of the store like an eager puppy.

_Hook, line, and sinker_, Shion thought, smirking.

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A/N: Yes, there has been much debate on why Shion suddenly went from "cute, geeky girl-next-door" to "sex kitten adventurer"... this is my take. Blame it all on Miyuki the otaku! XD Peony River, by the way, is a song by Nan Quan Mama. The mp3 is one of the songs that I was listening to while writing this. Sorry about the shortness of the chapter -- it's transitional. We are about to get into major plot here, so hang onto your socks.

COMING NEXT CHAPTER: Drunken!Shion, Confused!chaos, Giggly!Miyuki, Scared-of-his-ex!Tony, and Shirt-Ripper-Girl! Enough hangovers for the entire cast! It's gonna be a wild night at the Peony River, and no one shall leave alone! Muahahaha.


	4. Dreaming Awake

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the concepts of the Xenosaga games. I'm just playing with them, and then I'll put them back in their boxes, Mommy, I promise. I'm making no profit out of this story, and if you sue me, you'll only get a few lint balls. I wouldn't bother with it, really.

I do own this story, and plagurizing it would make you a sad, sad, creepy little person. It'd also make me angry, and I bite. So save yourself some rabies shots and don't even try to nick it, okay?

Currently unbeta-ed. If you'd like to volunteer for the position I'd love you forever.

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Chapter Three

The Peony River was indeed as beautiful as it's name implied, Shion was forced to admit. Wood floors were kept in pristine condition, and the walls were made of a thin plastic that mimicked the texture of rice paper nearly to perfection. It would have been a little too eerily like her house if it hadn't been for the low lighting and the red lanterns in the entryway that tinted the silhouettes of the dancers in the club a bit further on. The entire effect was indeed spectacular. Shion felt as if she had been submerged into water the same color as MOMO's hair. Miyuki squealed excitedly. "See, Shion? Now wasn't this worth the wait?" Shion gave her co-worker a droll look. Waiting outside in the autumn weather, feeling exposed and rather like a cut of meat on display in the outfit Miyuki had coaxed her into changing into... it was not exactly what Shion had had in mind. However, it had been rather gratifying that the bouncer had whistled as he gave her a once over and had let them both in immediately rather than sending them back to the end of the line as he had several other would-be patrons earlier.

"The club might be, but these shoes are some sort of primordial torture device aren't they?" Shion brushed her hair back carelessly, earning a smack across her hand from Miyuki who had spent quite a while "perfecting" both her own and Shion's hair. "Now now," Miyuki murmured, applying what must've been her thousandth coat of lipstick, "They make your legs look like a mile long."

Shion shook her head. "Yeah, yeah... well they're gonna make my feet into bloody stubs by the end of the night." Miyuki smacked her gently across the arm. "C'mon, Chief, you've complained less about having to debug KOS-MOS's neural processors. And that took several all-nighters, so..." A girl in a stylishly modified kimono and cat ears approached them, handkerchief hem displaying legs made delicate-looking by the odd heeled sandals she was wearing, attatched by ribbons that wrapped around her calves. "Welcome to the Peony River," the young woman said, voice raised slightly to be heard above the low thump and murmur of the music that was beginning to be audible as Shion and Miyuki got closer to the dancing section of the club. "I am Koneko," a cat's tail flicked behind her easily. Shion watched it, interested. Was that a cybernetic implant? Those were definitely not cheap, and meant that Koneko was a Realian. The implants hadn't been approved for human use, as far as Shion had heard. Miyuki squealed, "Oh! How cute!"

Koneko smiled demurely, obviously used to the reaction. "Thank you. I am one of the newer models, specifically equipped with serving protocols to suit the Peony River's needs. My sisters within are the two other subtypes available, Usagi and Kitsune." Koneko bowed slightly, "Please allow me to inquire as to whether you will be drinking tonight?"

Miyuki was bent over, poking Koneko's tail curiously and cooing, obviously not listening to a word that the catgirl Realian was saying. "Definitely," Shion sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. No wonder Miyuki had been so eager to come here. It was obviously an upscale otaku club.

An hour later, and Shion had completely forgotten that she even had feet. Light and sound swirled around her as she weaved around the dance floor, giggling as she was picked up off her unsteady feet and whirled around in the frenzy of the Peony's dance floor. Part of her acknowledged that there was something very wrong, as she was not at all into the club scene, and she had already been felt up in the excess of five times. However, the majority of Shion's brain was simply to happy and giddy at all the affection and sparkly things around her. Hands moved down her back, and Shion let them, nearly purring. She let herself start to be led toward the back of the club, humming a little broken tune.

יִשָּׁקֵנִי מִנְּשִׁיקוֹת פִּיהוּ, כִּי-טוֹבִים דֹּדֶיךָ מִיָּיִן 1

Unnoticed, the words fell from her lips, inaudible against the music. And yet, there was one who heard them. Eyes widened, lips parting in the breathless exhalation of a name. "Shion..."

עַל-מִשְׁכָּבִי, בַּלֵּילוֹת, בִּקַּשְׁתִּי, אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה 2

It was almost surreal, the part of Shion that was still lucid mused. To go so long protected by near insurmountable walls, and have all those years worth of effort and insecurity shattered by what must've been a small pill or powder slipped into one of those neon drinks she and Miyuki had been downing en masse. And what was it that her mouth was spouting anyway?

**_Yeshua_**. The word seemed to almost be whispered against her ear, accompanied by a ringing noise -- a noise she'd heard before...

"Shion?" A gloved hand touched her wrist hesitantly before taking hold. Shion stumbled as the man leading her tried to pull her away. Looking up at a frustrated frown and questioning aquamarine eyes, she tried to say something, anything --

"Yeshua," she giggled. chaos's grip tightened painfully and his eyes widened. Shion blinked at him, glazed gaze blank. "Yeshua?"

"Hush, Shion," he murmured, staring at the other man until the man slunk away, ashamed.

"I'll take you home," chaos murmured, wrapping an arm around the brunette to keep her steady.

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**_A/N:_** 1 and 2 are verses of Song of Songs in the original Hebraic text. The verses are basically about kissing and I chose them because of the double meanings. Yeshua is also from the Hebraic, which, as many people know, is another name for Christ. However, I have made a discovery! Shion is very closely tied to chaos, and KOS-MOS... No worries... It'll come out in the next chapter. Suffice it to say, it's all in the name.

COMING NEXT CHAPTER: Drunken revelations! Affectionate Shion! Temptation! Seduction! Gloves come off, and nothing will ever be the same again. Are you ready?


	5. Dualities

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the concepts of the Xenosaga games. I'm just playing with them, and then I'll put them back in their boxes, Mommy, I promise. I'm making no profit out of this story, and if you sue me, you'll only get a few lint balls. I wouldn't bother with it, really.

I do own this story, and plagurizing it would make you a sad, sad, creepy little person. It'd also make me angry, and I bite. So save yourself some rabies shots and don't even try to nick it, okay?

Currently unbeta-ed. If you'd like to volunteer for the position I'd love you forever.

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Chapter 4

Shion had apparently taken chaos's gentle command to heart, for although she continued to hum softly, she said nothing more as chaos guided her back to her home. It was late evening before they stepped off the final rail. chaos and Shion paused at the gate, Shion curled against chaos's side. chaos sighed, watching the still and silent brunette. Whatever she had been given, it seemed to have affected her deeply. There was no way he could leave her by herself, not in her current state. Shifting, chaos rubbed his forehead in the exasperated gesture he had picked up from Allen inadvertently. It wasn't until he heard the soft splashing that he even realized that Shion had left his side. He blinked, startled, and whirled.

"Shion, wh--?"

Shion, in her dress and bare feet, had waded into the pond. The water closed around her waist, and chaos stepped forward, ready to grab the young woman if she tried to drown herself, but then realized that Shion was in the deepest part of the pond. The sunset streaked the waters with orange and gold. Against the sunset, Shion looked frail and ethereal. She turned her head to look at him, her eyes turning jewel-like viridian in the dying light. "Yeshua..."

chaos stepped forward. This was a turn of events that deeply unsettled him. He was unused to being surprised, and this... whatever had come over Shion, this was not the young woman who had somehow become a dear friend to him, despite his distant nature. "How do you know that name?" Shion smiled, finally moving to face him, spreading her hands. Ripples spread out from where her fingertips dragged through the water. The picture she made had chaos inhaling abruptly.

"Yeshua, who is Salvation, establisher of Mysteries... messenger of Light," Shion began walking toward him, an enigmatic expression on her face, her voice sepulchral smoke. chaos stood rooted, hypnotized. "...things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world..." As Shion moved closer, her dress now a second skin, her eyes darkened with drug and secrets, chaos's eyes widened. He only realized that he had begun backing away when the back of his heel hit the slight step in the entrance to the house. He stumbled backward, winding up in an undignified sprawl on the Uzuki residence floor. Shion knelt beside him, sliding a palm along his face to coax him to look at her. "Deliver us from our ignorance," she breathed, so close her lashes were like a whisper against his cheek.

chaos gave an inarticulate gasp, hands coming up as if in defense. "S-Shion--"

Shion licked his ear, fingers tugging at his jacket until the clasps fell open.

"Reveal to me... everything."

Shion pushed his hands down, turning his head. "Yeshua," she whispered against his lips.

Her lips pressed against his, warm and willing, and he was lost.

--------

Miyuki shot up in bed.

"I LEFT SHION AT THE BAR!"

Immediately upon the heels of that revelation came three more: one, she had the most massive hangover in the history of man.

"Ack," Miyuki whimpered, falling back against the rumpled sheets and pillows, "Ooh... Too many Midoris..." She rubbed her poor aching skull gently, turning over to try and reduce the throb. She scrunched her eyes against the bright morning light coming in through the window, and revelation two hit her like a two by four. "My bedroom window is on the _other_ side..." Ignoring her headache, she shot up again, wide-eyed. "_Where the heck am I_?"

"My hotel room," a sleepy male voice responded from close by.

"Meep," Miyuki said, looking down reluctantly. A well-tanned, well toned leg was thrown over hers. Ah, well at least he's still pretty this morning, Miyuki consoled herself, following the path the leg gave her up to the face of her surprise bedmate. Tousled strawberry blonde hair fell over drowsy green eyes, in a handsome, high-cheek boned face. "Ah, and you are...?"

"Tony," he chuckled good-naturedly. "I tried to tuck you into the spare bed," he pointed over to an unobtrusive roll away bed, where another male figure snoozed on peacefully, "But you kicked Hammer right out of this one, and climbed in instead." Miyuki flushed, chewing a fingertip nervously. "Ah..."

Tony shifted, stretching out like a cat before rolling to his feet. Miyuki didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed by the fact that he still had on his boxers. Tony scowled down at the floor, where a few shreds of green cloth were discarded along with the pants that Miyuki vaguely remembered that he had been wearing last night. The scraps were tossed into the trash with a few mutterings that Miyuki was pretty sure were fairly creative anatomically incorrect suggestions. Seeing Miyuki's curious look, the blonde shrugged. "One of my exes got a little hot under the collar that I left to pilot a starship. She decided that to get even, she'd rip my shirt off. It went downhill from there." Padding into the tiny "kitchen" section of the hotel, Tony took down a pill bottle and shook it invitingly. "Ginseng."

He tossed Miyuki the bottle, which she fumbled. It landed in her lap. "It's one of the best things you can take for a hangover. We always have some on us." Tony grinned at her. "Saves us on hearing our Captain gripe."

Miyuki clutched the bottle gratefully. "Thanks. I gotta find my friend, though... I don't know what happened to her last night --"

"Oh, you mean Shion?" Tony put the pot into the coffeemaker and turned the machine on. "Don't worry. chaos took her home." He glanced over, taking in Miyuki's blank expression, and chuckled again. "We're the crew of the Elsa. I'm the master helmsman," he swept Miyuki a small bow, " and that sleepy lump over there, is Hammer, our navigator. chaos is our... well. chaos is chaos." Tony examined the coffeemaker, and pulled the pot out, pouring Miyuki a mug.

Miyuki took it, swallowing one of the pills along with it. "Oh? Really... I'd still like to check on her." She eyed Tony, "After you tell me all about what happened last night..."

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Shion dreamed.

Once again, she found herself wandering the streets of Old Miltia. Automatically, her feet began taking her down the same path as her father had led her down on that fateful day fourteen years ago. As she passed, the quiet, neat streets transformed. Buildings crumbled silently, bodies appeared, and flowers died. Shion stopped, looking back at the statue that reminded her of her procurator, U-kun. The bunny that had stood upright, and had been one of the few cheerful things in the old playground beside the Acute Neurosis Facility had toppled, cracks materializing and dirt coating the once cheerful figure. Shion shook her head, leaning against the railing. "Why is it always here?"

"Because of what you left here."

"I'm really tired of this whole cryptic thing, could you just--" Shion turned her head, ready to confront Nephilim on her deliberate obtuseness.

It wasn't Nephilim who was behind her.

Shion stared at the small six-year-old who stared back at her, emerald eyes serious behind her glasses.

"You left me behind," six-year-old Shion told her older self.

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A/N: Well! It was a very eventful chapter, wasn't it? Am I evil for that cliffhanger, or what? Hehe. I know, I know. I didn't get all of the things I wanted to in. It's just that this seemed to be a natural break. No worries. Now that I've gotten the awkwardness of the transition over with, the next chapter will be chock full of Shion revelations!

NEXT CHAPTER: Shion's real name isn't Shion? What? And what does this have to do with finding a chaos in her bed? Isn't anything in Shion's life going to be simple ever again? ... yeah, right.


	6. Touching the Illusion

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the concepts of the Xenosaga games. I'm just playing with them, and then I'll put them back in their boxes, Mommy, I promise. I'm making no profit out of this story, and if you sue me, you'll only get a few lint balls. I wouldn't bother with it, really.

I do own this story, and plagurizing it would make you a sad, sad, creepy little person. It'd also make me angry, and I bite. So save yourself some rabies shots and don't even try to nick it, okay?

Currently unbeta-ed. If you'd like to volunteer for the position I'd love you forever.

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Chapter Five – Touching the Illusion

"What..." Shion stepped back, bringing up the arm with which she wielded Miyuki's MWS out of defensive habit. The little girl with her face merely stared at her with unfathomable eyes. "This is ridiculous," Shion said uneasily, flicking her finger in a way that would have had her nails tapping against the MWS's trigger mechanism. However, here, Shion had no weapons.

"Is it really so hard to believe, after all that we have seen in so short a space of time?"

Even if she did, at the moment, she had no idea what she would do with it. After all, while blowing her painful past to hell and back might be therapeutic, surely beating an image of her younger self to a pulp would be bad for her psyche. With her luck, this probably had some sort of Freudian meaning.

"It's amazing you know."

Shion blinked at her younger self. "What?"

"Our possibilities. You want to know where you fit into the picture that's forming, right?" Younger Shion began walking, and Shion began following her without thinking. "Yes. What, has my subconscious been taking lessons from that annoying apparition? Just say it straight."

Younger Shion sent a very droll look over her shoulder. "Are you going to let me talk or not? I'm you, you know. There's really no use in you complaining at me. You'd have your answers if you weren't so determined to block me out."

Shion ignored her, looking around. "The Acute Neurosis Facility..."

"This is where the first stone was cast. Look!" Younger Shion pointed.

Shion looked. Really looked, for the first time. "That's..." she shook her head, "The Song of Nephilim... It... it was part of what caused the Conflict, but... what does that have to do with--"

"We hear it." Younger Shion said, staring at the machine that her older self had helped destroy. "The Song that invites one into madness... Hammer, Allen, Tony... they don't hear it, though." Younger Shion looked up, meeting identical bottle green eyes. "The human brain is made up of about 10 billion cells, one hundred trillion synapses... At birth, brain capacity is only about 350 cubic centimeters. The adult human brain is 300 times that, at 1,400 centimeters. This means that most of the human brain's growth is accomplished outside the womb, after birth. What a child is exposed to during these formative years determines how they are "hard-wired". Like a songbird, some abilities only await a trigger to truly awaken."

Shion's hands clenched into fists slowly. "Are you saying that... I was somehow preprogrammed.. by that?" Shion jabbed an angry finger at the Song and the Center. "That all of this is happening to me because... simply because I was born?"

"Our circumstances are beyond our control. You know that." Her younger image tilted her head, looking vaguely reproving. "We can only live the best way we can, and find our own happiness in the moments where we are able." Little Shion sat in one of the swings on the only swing set left standing on the ruined playground. Starting to swing back and forth gently, she smiled wistfully at her counterpart. "Or are you too busy looking for answers to be happy?"

Shion blinked, surprised at the sudden change of subject. "I..."

"You're going to turn into an office lady. You need to just let loose and play a bit more. Otherwise, you'll turn into a female Allen."

"W-wh--!" Shion sputtered, indignant at being insulted by her own inner child.

"Swing with me, silly!"

Shion sat down on a swing slightly awkwardly. "I don't really think this is..."

Little Shion blew her a raspberry. "Come on, old lady. Play! Betcha you can't catch up to me!"

"Why you little--!" Kicking off determinedly, Shion began swinging, pumping her legs to catch up with the laughing little girl hidden within her. "You just watch me!"

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chaos stretched slowly, reveling as he always did in the simple sensation of sheets against skin. A soft, sleep-garbled giggle made him pause. _Shion..._ He wasn't entirely sure what had awakened in her at the club, but he had been able to seal her, at least partially. Almost experimentally, he ran his hand down Shion's bare back. Beneath her skin, the subtle glow of his power was visible... along with the traces of something else, a pale scattering of lines creating a vague shape that seemed to become clearer the longer he stared at it. Shion stirred, and chaos watched her closely, warily, but the brunette merely snuggled closer, her hair sliding across his arm in a silken fall. He watched her, eyes sliding over the long, lean lines of her limbs, the soft and inviting flush of her lips, but the look in his eyes was not that of a lover. Instead the normally placid aquamarine was troubled, wary.

'What secrets are you hiding, daughter of Eve?' he wondered, lowering his head so that he could see the dark shadow of her lashes against the paleness of her cheeks. She was thinner than she had been when they had first met. The lush curves had become subtler, the softness of a career behind a desk giving way to the firmness of muscle. chaos frowned slightly, even given the stress of the past few months, Shion should not have lost this much weight. chaos's fingers wandered up her ribs, gently stroking over remembered wounds, long healed with the luminous wash of ether, remembering the Shion that had wept in his arms for Cherenkov, despite the prickly man's sins. 'Relinquish your pain unto me,' he murmured into the sleeping brunette's hair, repeating KOS-MOS's words to him on the Elsa. The girl was so fragile, to have done all she had, to have borne so much. chaos lay back, tucking Shion's head beneath his chin, absently brushing his fingers over the chord of her necklace. "I wish you would rest," he whispered quietly, putting his cheek to the top of her head in a comforting gesture, "for both your sakes... and for mine."

As if in response, Shion stirred in his arms, burrowing closer even as she stretched sleep-cramped muscles. "Mmmnnn," she murmured, yawning against chaos's tawny shoulder. "Such a strange dream..." A drowsy smile lightened Shion's face as her eyes opened, the normally jewel-toned green darkened by sleep. "Good morning..."

Shion tilted her face up, taking his face in slowly. chaos smiled gently; Shion obviously wasn't a morning person. "chaos-kun...?" Shion blinked, alarm bringing her awake like a sharp slap to the face. "W-what are you doing--?" Shion peeked under the blankets, and, finding them both in the state of undress she had feared, uttered a sound that could only be described as a mortified squeak. "Oh no no no no..." Shion moaned, burrowing under the blankets in a futile attempt to hide. "I did not get drunk and seduce chaos-kun, I did not... This is a dream, and... ooh, stupid head, stop hurting, it's a dream, a dream, I said!"

chaos chuckled, sliding out of the bed, "I'll find you some painkillers," he offered, padding toward the kitchen.

Shion popped her head out from under the blankets, sputtering. "You can't just go around like that," she waved her hand at chaos's bare back, while she tried valiantly to keep her eyes above the waistline, her cheeks blooming red.

"Why not?" chaos smiled at her serenely from over his shoulder. "I'm comfortable like this, and you've already seen the show."

Shion squeaked again. "B-but--"

"Shion," chaos turned to her, and Shion had to remind herself that you looked at someone's _face_ when they were talking to you. _'Face, face, face, face, face...' _she chanted silently. "Did you want me to leave?"

Shion started. "No!" she replied without thinking, and then blinked. She didn't? It wasn't as if she hadn't had a one night stand before. They were rare, yes, but she had had a few since Kevin... But either she, or her partner had left before morning each time, and...

She had no idea why waking up in chaos's arms didn't make her want to run screaming for the hills. She was mulling this over, absently chewing on her lower lip, when chaos came back, a mug and a small bottle of painkillers in his hands.

And Shion was left with nothing but an inadequate "thanks" to ward off an impending awkward silence.

_Miyuki is **so** dead when I get my hands on her..._

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A/N: Heh... wow. This is my longest chapter to date, I think. And now I present you, the morning after disaster, complete with naked chaos! If you're wondering, there will be more revelations to come, as Shion, with chaos, confronts some demons, and starts questioning chaos's motives. Why exactly is chaos not freaking out like Shion? Hehehe... Until next time!


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